Tree for boots or shoes



July 24, 1934.

J. W. LONEY TREE FOR BOOTS OR SHOES 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 5, 1932 R m M gu a m 8 2 Sheet 2 iled Oct. 1932 Tig. 6.

Q I O I 20 Tlg 8. I

Patented July 24, 1934 Tans FOR BOOTS on SHOES John W. Loney, Brockton, Mass., assignor to 0. A. Miller Treeing Machine Company, Portland, Maine, a corporation of Maine Application October 3,

18 Claims.

This invention relates to trees for boots and shoes and is herein illustrated as embodied in a tree leg of a type commonly employed in a treeing machine to support a shoe while it is being cleaned and ironed.

The treeing operation, performed just prior to packing the shoes in boxesfor shipment, is utilized to firm and smooth the leather and to remove wrinkles either in the lining or in the upper by the pressing and shrinking effect of a heated iron which is manipulated by hand. Successful treeing can only be accomplished when the tree sufliciently fits and fills the shoe. If the tree which is used does not fit the shoe reasonably well, or fails to support the shoe in all the shoe portions to be ironed, or has any sharp corners over which the upper is stretched, then the treeing operation is apt to do more harm than good and to shrink the shoe to an undesired shape or leave it'with wrinkles and with creases which are not intended to be there. A tree for this purpose is usually embodied in a treeleg adapted to be mounted in a treeing'machine, and commonly comprises a mid or bodyportion upon which foreparts and heel parts selected in accordance withthe size of thefshoe to be treed are detachably mounted. -The tree is extended lengthwise of the foot by separating the heel part from the body portion, a thin plate attached to the body portion bridging the gap thus formed. The typical body por-- tion has pivoted side piec'es which are expanded to blendwiththe particular forepart and heel part employed at a giventime, and it is intended that the operator shall change the forepart and the heel part as often as may be necessary, in order that each shoe to be treated will be properly supported. The foreparts employed need to be changed for every different size of shoe and the operators are reasonably faithful in so doing. The heel parts which are furnish- ,ed, however, are usually designed to accommo date two or three sizes of shoes and there is a great tendency upon the part of operators to fail to changethese asfrequently as is intended, with the consequence that only imperfect work is done and that the machine is in danger of being. brought into undeserved disrepute.

suggestions have been made for the employment of a so-cal1ed funiversal heel piece expansible to fill properly shoes of any one of the usual, run of sizes. The heel pieces of this type previously suggested, however, have been either too expensive and complicated to be commerfcially practicableor would not satisfactorily fill the shoes. Indeed, in the use of such uni- .versal? heel pieces, in come cases, portions of shoes have been leftunsupported. In some trees of the priorart, the heel part of a tree foot of a. size to ,fit the smallest shoe has been 1932, Serial No. 635,910

subdivided up the back seam and expanded laterally to fit a larger shoe by the expedient of leaving a gap between the expanded parts, which leaves the shoe unsupported by the tree at this point. In another prior art arrangement, subdivided sections of the heel part are slid laterally with respect to the other sections, thus necessarily forming a rather abrupt changein the contour of the heel part which, by reason of this abruptriess, could be only partially corrected by utilizing overlapping spring plates to bridge the joint between the parts. Ironing is needed frequently in the shank portion of the shoe and also just above the counter. It is especially necessary that the parts of the tree supporting these portions shall blend, shall leave no gaps, and shall substantially fit the shoe.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved tree embodying a universal heel piece of improved construction which will be simple and yet so constructed as to fill properly all shoes of a usual runv of sizes and to blend perfectly with the other parts of the tree without leaving undesirable gaps or exposed corners.

These requirements have been met, in accordance with one feature of the invention, by leaving the contour of the rear end of the heel part unbroken and providing subdivided portions of the heel part arranged for tilting movement about axes located at the sides of the heel part and spaced from the rear end thereof. As a result, the relatively movable parts blend with one another throughout the entire range of movement required. Further, there is no harmful gap left when the heelpiece is expanded, the only gap in the illustratedheel piece being at the bottom of the tree foot. This, however, is of no consequence because it directly underlies the sole of the shoe where no treeing is required.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the division line along which each of the subdivided portions of the illustrated heel part is pivoted is spaced from the rear end and is substantially coincident with the surface of the heel part. In the illustrated construction, the division line starts at the bottom of the tree foot near the rear of the heel and is inclined upwardly and forwardly of the foot toward the ankle portion, being so chosen that the line is substantially straight throughout the major portion of its length.

t will be obvious that none of the ordinary methods of hinging two parts can be'employed for the desired purpose without either having a portion of .the hinge project beyond the surface of the heel part of the tree or else locating the hinge axis below the surface, with the result that a gap would necessarily occur which would leave. the shoe unsupported in such a manner that imperfect treeing would result. In accordance with another feature of the invention, the component, subdivided portions of the illustrated heel part are hinged thereto by mechanism concealed within the heel part, the hinge axis being kept coincident with the surface of the heel part. In the illustrated construction the relatively fixed and movable heel-part members are provided, the one with a groove and the other with a complemental rib coacting with the groove toform a hinge, the rib and groove having contacting bearing surfaces curved about the division or hinge line as a center. The rib and groove also have corresponding plane surfaces of which the one which is on the heel part is in a plane substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tree foot. As illustrated also, a plate is provided upon the forward surface of the heel part for retaining the hinged members thereon and upon the outside of the heel part thin plates are secured tothe hinged members to overlap the adjacent portion of the tree leg, bridging the gap between the heel part and the body part of the tree leg when the latter has been expanded in the usual way by moving the heel part away from the forepart, and blending more perfectly than could be done if the plates were attached to the body part.

These and other features of the invention will now be described in the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my novel tree leg mounted upon a treeing machine, of which a fragment is shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the tree leg, on a larger scale and with parts broken away and in section;

Fig. 3 is a view of the rear face of a forepart of large size;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line IV--IV of Fig. 2 showing the hinged portions of the heel part;

Fig. 5 is a view of the forward face of the tree leg after the forepart has been detached, showing the manner of supporting the laterally expansible side pieces;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line VIVI of Fig. 2, showing particularly the manner of hinging the divided portions of the heel part;

Fig. 7 is a View similar to Fig. 3 but showing the rear face of a forepart of smaller size; and

Fig. 8 is a view of the bottom of the heel end of the tree foot taken from the left in Fig. 2,

The tree leg 10 may be mounted upon a treeing machine of the type illustrated in Letters Patent of the United States No. 442,034, granted December 2, 1890, upon the application of A. B. Fowler, to which Letters Patent reference may be had for a description of parts of the machine not herein fully shown or described. At the upper end of the tree leg is a reduced cylindrical portion 12 having a groove 14 and this portion is adapted to be received in a hollow arm 16 of the treeing machine and detachably held therein by means of a thumb screw 18 entering the groove 14. This arrangement permits the tree leg to be turned so that with the leg in a horizontal position, as is common in such machines, either the side or the heel or the toe end of a shoe may be brought uppermost for convenience in treeing.

The tree leg comprises a'heel part 20 (Fig. 1), a forepart 50, a body part 54 (Fig. 6) and side pieces 84, 86, The heel part 207is so mounted upon the tree leg that it may be moved lengthwise of the foot portion thereof to extend the length of the foot, by mechanism to be later described which is attached to an actuating rod 22. The rod 22 is urged by a spring 24 to a normal position in which the tree leg is contracted, but it may be moved by a treadle (not shown) attached to a treadle rod 26 against the tension of this spring to expand the tree leg. To this end, the actuating rod 22 has an extension 28 passing through two collars 30 and 32 which are held apart by a stiff spring 34 and retained on the extension 28 of the operating rod 22 by means of a hand nut 36. When the treadle is depressed it swings a bell-crank lever 38 which moves a plunger 40, slidably mounted in the frame of the treeing machine, to push against a roller 42 pivoted upon the collar 30, thus expanding the tree leg to a degree permitted by the spring 34.

To facilitate the application of a shoeto or its removal from the tree leg, the leg is made extensible heightwise of the leg substantially in the manner shown in Letters Patent of the United States No. 319,355, granted June 2, 1885, upon the application of A. D. Tyler, Jr., thereby in effect shortening the tree foot by moving the forepart to a region beyond the heel and body parts where a shoe may be easily mounted on the forepart before the heel part is inserted in the shoe, To this end, the forepart 58 is detachably secured to .a slide 52 (Fig. 2) which is movable longitudinally of the tree leg when the operator is not depressing the treadle and is held on the body portion 54 of the leg by a dovetail shaped rib 56 fitting a correspondingly shaped groove (Fig. 6) in the body part 54. The other face of the slide comprises a rectangular rib 58 notched at 60 (Fig. 2). The inner face of the fo-repart has a groove 62 (Figs. 3

' roe and 7) fitting over the rib 58 and this groove is spanned by a cross-bar 64 set substantially flush with the inner face of the forepart 50 and adapted to be received in the notch 60. When the slide 52 is in extended position, to the left of that shown in Fig. 2, then the foreparts 50 may be interchanged and, having been mounted upon the slide by the coaction of the cross-bar 64 and the notch 60, are held thereon by a linger latch 66 held up by a spring 68 in contact with a top plate 69 on the forepart. This latch, by preventing movement of the forepart along the slide, effectually holds the cross-bar in the notch. This extension of the tree leg is only needed when the tree foot is to be contracted to its shortened foot length, and to hold the slide 52 normally unextended, with the forepart 50 in correct relation to the rest of the tree leg, there is a latch 70 having a hooked end coacting with a hooked portion of the slide 52. This latch is pivoted at '72 in the tree leg and pushed inwardly to locking position by a spring 74. The operating rod 22 has an extension '76 which is provided with a cam surface 78 coacting with a hump 88 upon the latch to hold it out of operative position when the rod 22 is moved to the left in Fig. 2 by the spring 24. When the operator steps upon the treadle and draws the rod 22 to the right, however, the cam surface 78 underlies a tail 82 upon the latch 70 and holds the latter in engagement with the slide 52, thereby preventing extension of the tree leg longitudinally of the leg.

The sides of the tree foot are formed by the side pieces 84 and 86 which, at their upper ends,

are beveled to fit into notches 88 (Fig. 5) in the body portion 54 of the tree leg and which are held thereinby strips attached by screws 92 to-the side pieces and by bolts 94 tothe tree leg. The lower ends of these side pieces are faces of these side pieces 84 and 86 mayblend with the lateral surfaces of the particular forepart 50 which is upon the tree leg, all but the smallest sized foreparts have grading members (Fig. '7) which are attached to plates 102 set flush with the inner face of the forepart and held therein by screws. In the smallest foreparts these grading members are omitted en.-

-tirely. In intermediate sizes they take the form or pins, as shown in Fig. 7. In the larger sizes, such as the forepart 150 shown in Fig. 3, the grading members consist of wedges 104.

When a shoe is applied to the tree leg, the forepart 50 may be extended, if desired, to facilitate the insertion of this forepart in the shoe, and then retracted to the position shown, entering the other parts of the tree-foot in the heel end of the shoe. After the shoe has been mounted upon the tree foot, then it is desired to move the heel part 20 away from the forepart 50 lengthwise of the shoe so that the tree foot will completely fill the shoe. To this end, the extension 76 (Fig. 2) of the operating rod 22 is provided with stretch-off cams 110 which coact with rollers 114 upon plates 116 secured to the inner face of the heel part 20. The plates are substantially flush therewith and are provided with slots 118 (Fig. 4) for the reception of the stretch-off cams 110. The action of the two cams causes a substantially parallel movement to be imparted to the heel part 20, which heel part is retained upon the tree leg 10 by an-apertured plate 120 (Figs.-1 and 2) secured to the upper end of the heel part and passing loosely over a stud 122 in the body. of the tree leg 10. It will be observed from Fig. 6 that the extension 76 is dovetailed into the body portion 54 of the tree leg to guide the extensionwith respect to the tree leg and to form a bearing resisting the action of the cams 110.

It will be evident that a heel part of any particular width cannot blend with foreparts of varying widths so as to fill the shoe perfectly and to provide a proper treeing surface'and it has been customary, to provide an assortment of interchangeable heel parts with consequent expense and the danger that the operator will fail to change them as often as he should. I have, however, by the construction about to be described, provided a universal heel part the lower end of which is provided with. tiltable blocks 130 forming component parts of the heel part and each separated from the main part thereof along an inclined division line 132. (Figs. 1 and 2) at the surface of the heel part so chosen with respect to the heel part thatit is substantially straight throughout the greater partof its length. These tiltable blocks 130 are hinged upon the heel part 20, for movement about axes coinciding withthe division lines 132 so that there never will be a gap between the tiltable blocks 130 and the main portion of the heel part 20. i This tilting about an axis at the surface of the heel'piece without the use of an ordinary metal hinge the pivot portion of which would be located along and protrude from the surface of the tree foot, has been secured by providing, in the heel part, ribs 134 (Fig. 6) having :inner surfaces 136. curved about the division line 132 and with plane outer surfaces substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tree foot. Complementary grooves 138 are provided in the tiltable blocks 130. The coaction of the curved surfaces 136 of the ribs and grooves keeps the blocks 130 from ever moving outward to a point where there would be a ridge betweenthe heel part 20 and the blocks 130. At the same time, the sharp corners 140' and 142 upon the tiltable blocks coact with adjacent plane surfaces upon the heel part to prevent inward movement of the blocks. The blocks are held against movement lengthwise of the tree leg by the coaction of the ends of the ribs with the ends of the grooves (Fig. 2) and also by arms 144 (Fig. 4) extending laterally from the plates 116, which arms enter slots 146 formed in surfaces of the blocks which are opposite to those provided with the grooves 138. This allows the outer surfaces of the tiltable blocks to blend perfectly with the outer surfaces of the heel part 20 at all times without leaving any gap except that shown at 148 at the bottom of the foot (Fig. 8) where a gap is of no consequence because it is immediately above the heel of the. shoe and where the shoe does not require any treeing. In order that there shall be no gaps between the heel part with its tiltable blocks 130 and the side pieces 84 and 86, thin spring metal plates 152 are employed which are attached by means of a series of screws .154 (Fig. 2) to the tiltable blocks 130 and to the heel part 20. Any spreading of the side pieces is therefore communicated to the tiltable blocks.

In the use of the tree leg, the operator will select a forepart 50 or 150 of proper length and width for the shoe to be treated and, pulling the slide 52 to an extended position, will re-- move one forepart from the slide, after depression of the latch 66, and replace it with another. Then having placed a shoe over the forepart he will move the slide and the forepart to the position shown in the drawings, sliding the heel end of the shoe over the heel part. At the completion of this movement, the grading members 100 will enter slots 160 (Fig. 2) between the mid portion 54 of the treeleg and the side pieces 84 and 86, pushing these side pieces out (Fig. 5) to blend with the forepart. Since these side pieces underlie the plates 152 which are attached to the tiltable blocks 130 on the heel part, the blocks will be tilted to a position where they will blend with the side pieces, and this continuity of line and surface will be maintained by these plates 152 during the lengthwise expansion of the tree foot.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a tree, a body portion, a detachable forepart selected in accordance with the size of the shoe'to be treed associated with said forepart selected in accordance with the size of the shoe to be treed associated with said body portion, a heel part having an unbroken contour around the rear end, and members carried on said heel part tiltable about axes spaced from the rear end of the heel part to blend with the forepart employed at a given time.

3. In a tree, a body portion, a relatively stationary forepart adapted to be varied in accordance with the size of the shoe to be treed,

associated with said body portion, an expansible heel part adapted to be moved away from the forepart to fill the shoe, said heel part comprising a rigid portion forming the rear end thereof, and tiltable members pivoted upon the rigid portion of said heel part and constructed and arranged to pivot to blend with the outline of the forepart.

4. In a tree, a body portion provided with a removable forepart and with laterally expansible side pieces blending with the forepart, a heel part having a rigid part and portions hinged thereto adjacent to the side pieces, and means for moving the hinged portions with the side pieces to blend therewith.

5. In a tree, a body portion having expansible side pieces, a removable forepart, means for expanding the side pieces to blend with the forepart, a heel part having hinged members adjacent to the side pieces, and thin plates on the hinged members overlapping the side pieces to cause the heel part to blend therewith in all positions of the side pieces.

6. In a tree, a body portion having expansible side pieces, a removable forepart provided with grading members to expand the side pieces to blend with the forepart, a heel part having hinged members adjacent to the side pieces and movable lengthwise of the tree to cause the tree to fill a shoe, and means on the hinged members for interconnectinglthem with the side pieces, to blend therewith in all positions of the side pieces, and constructed and arranged to bridge the gap between the side pieces and the hinged members as the heel part is moved to cause the tree to fill a shoe.

'7. In a tree foot, a universal heel piece having a rigid portion and a hinged portion joined to said rigid portion along a hinge line at the surface of the heel piece starting at the bottom of the foot near the rear of the heel and inclined upwardly and forwardly of the foot toward the ankle portion.

8. In a tree a body portion having expansible side pieces, a heel part associated 'with said body portion having a hinged portion pivoted to the heel part about an axis spaced from the rear end of the heel part and substantially coincident with the surface of the heel partv 9. In a tree, a body portion having expansible side pieces, a heel part associated with said body portion, having a component part subdivided from said heel part and hinged thereto about an axis coincident with the surface of the heel part by mechanism entirely concealed within the heel part.

10. In a tree, a body portion having expansible side pieces, a heel part associated with said body portion having a component part subdivided from said heel part along a substantially straight line and hinged thereto about an axis coincident with the surface of the heel part by machanism entirely concealed within the heel part.

11. In a tree, a body portion having expansible side pieces a heel part associated with said body portion having a component part subdivided from said heel part along a line substantially straight throughout at least the larger portion of its length, and hinged thereto 13. In a tree, a heel part having a component part divided from said heel part along a substantially straight line and hinged thereto, one of said parts having a groove and the other of said parts having acomplemental rib coacting with said groove to form a hinge and having contacting bearing surfaces curved about a the division line as a center.

14, In a tree, a heel part having a component part divided from said heel part along a substantially straight line and hinged thereto, one of said parts having a groove and the other of said parts having a complemental rib coacting with said groove to form a hinge and having contacting surfaces curved about the division line as a center, said rib and said groove also having corresponding coaeting plain surfaces, of which the one which is on the heel part is in a plane which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tree.

15. In a tree, a heel part having component subdivided parts loosely hinged to the forward end of the heel part, and means secured to the forward surface of the heel part for retaining said hinged. parts on the heel part.

16. 111 a tree, a forepart, a heel part having lateral members adjacent to the forward surface of the heel part hinged about straight lines on the side surfaces of the heel part, said heel part being 'movable to expand the tree, and thin plates secured to said hinged members overlapping the adjacent portion of the tree and constructed and arranged to bridge the gap between the heel part and the remainder of the tree when the tree has been expanded by moving the heel part away from the forepart.

17. In a tree, a forepart, a heel part having lateral members hinged thereto adjacent to the forward surface of the heel part, means on the forward surface of the heel part for retaining said hinged members thereon, said heel part being movable to expand the tree, and thin plates secured to said hinged members overlapping the adjacent portion of the tree and constructed and arranged to bridge the gap between the heel part and the remainder of the tree when the tree has been expanded by moving the heel part away from the forepart.

18. In a tree, a body portion having movable stretchoff cams, and a heel part loosely mounted on said tree and provided with hearing plates for engagement with said cams, said plates be ing secured to the forward face of the heel part, said heelart having hinged component parts pivoted about a division line rearward of one of said plates, said latter plate overlapping said hinged members to restrict movement of the hinged members forwardly of the heel part.

JOHN W. LONEY.

iris 

